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Nov 5, 2021 at 8:02 PM Post #92 of 187
Nov 6, 2021 at 4:13 AM Post #94 of 187
After some intensive comparing sessions last night, at some point it was all very clear. So this is one of the „too short“ reviews that some will consider as … „little bit crazy guy“ and some will totally understand:

I pretty much don’t care about unboxing, equipment etc. so I leave that out.

When I put the EXT on with the Bach Cello sonatas (list see below), I was deeply touched and surprised how well the EXT sounds and how close to the real sound of a cello you can get in reproduction. When you consider the way these recordings were made, you hear actually more than in any concert. Except you sit on the players lap. So that was a promising start.

Since the EXT are brand new and I will only have them for a limited time, I immediately startet to burn them in with a big collection of music of different stiles that was at hand (Bach sonatas, cembalo concertos, Elvis, Wunderlich, Cash). So my first impression was after a tiny burn in phase of 8 hours:



Lots of introduction and a very short first outcome:

- EXT soundwise delivers very well. On a lot of levels (stage, resolution, bass, „filling the room with music“) it delivers a little bit more than the Elysium

- Elysium on the other hand - whenever I put it on and with whatever music – does the following trick with me: It just tells me to forget all this resolution, bass, treble, stage, holographic … whatever and says: „look how nice you can follow the music flow, if you chose me“. And this on a level, that whenever I have the Elysiums on, I find it hard to concentrate on the sound aspects. I don’t want to compare any more and just listen. This for my way of listening to music is one of the "every few years there is a gem" experience. The ones before where: TripleFi 10, AKG K400 (EP) and still is TH900.

That’s it for now, folks. I will give it another try after the next 38 more hours. We’ll see how important burn in is.

To sum it up: If you are into all these sound characteristics, the EXT performs clearly better. If you just want to listen to music and be taken away on a trip, take (or keep) Elysium.



List of music, that I used for the comparision:

Bach (of course!) – Cello Sonata No. 2 – Fournier DGG

Bach – Organ Trio Sonata No. 3 – Walcha DGG

Schumann – Dichterliebe – Wunderlich DGG

Queen – Dancing on a lazy afternoon

Ry Cooder – Pearls

James Blunt – Chasing Time – Goodby my lover
 
Nov 7, 2021 at 12:45 AM Post #95 of 187
After some intensive comparing sessions last night, at some point it was all very clear. So this is one of the „too short“ reviews that some will consider as … „little bit crazy guy“ and some will totally understand:

I pretty much don’t care about unboxing, equipment etc. so I leave that out.

When I put the EXT on with the Bach Cello sonatas (list see below), I was deeply touched and surprised how well the EXT sounds and how close to the real sound of a cello you can get in reproduction. When you consider the way these recordings were made, you hear actually more than in any concert. Except you sit on the players lap. So that was a promising start.

Since the EXT are brand new and I will only have them for a limited time, I immediately startet to burn them in with a big collection of music of different stiles that was at hand (Bach sonatas, cembalo concertos, Elvis, Wunderlich, Cash). So my first impression was after a tiny burn in phase of 8 hours:



Lots of introduction and a very short first outcome:

- EXT soundwise delivers very well. On a lot of levels (stage, resolution, bass, „filling the room with music“) it delivers a little bit more than the Elysium

- Elysium on the other hand - whenever I put it on and with whatever music – does the following trick with me: It just tells me to forget all this resolution, bass, treble, stage, holographic … whatever and says: „look how nice you can follow the music flow, if you chose me“. And this on a level, that whenever I have the Elysiums on, I find it hard to concentrate on the sound aspects. I don’t want to compare any more and just listen. This for my way of listening to music is one of the "every few years there is a gem" experience. The ones before where: TripleFi 10, AKG K400 (EP) and still is TH900.

That’s it for now, folks. I will give it another try after the next 38 more hours. We’ll see how important burn in is.

To sum it up: If you are into all these sound characteristics, the EXT performs clearly better. If you just want to listen to music and be taken away on a trip, take (or keep) Elysium.



List of music, that I used for the comparision:

Bach (of course!) – Cello Sonata No. 2 – Fournier DGG

Bach – Organ Trio Sonata No. 3 – Walcha DGG

Schumann – Dichterliebe – Wunderlich DGG

Queen – Dancing on a lazy afternoon

Ry Cooder – Pearls

James Blunt – Chasing Time – Goodby my lover

Good stuff.. did you sense any harshness in treble at all?
 
Nov 7, 2021 at 6:14 AM Post #96 of 187
Good stuff.. did you sense any harshness in treble at all?
No. Not at all.
And after a further burn in phase of 20 hours I have to revise my review.

I tend to not wanting to believe in burn it. I don't mind buying used equipment, so most of my equipment is used. Only the Elys were brand new. And I loved them from the first tone and stopped the burn in phase after maybe 10 hours.
For whatever reason the EXT seemed to have needed some burn in phase. The dynamic drivers maybe ..
Since I will not be able to compare them any more after tomorrow I will give this as my final verdict:
- The Elys manage to be super precise with nice sound stage and everything you wish for and the same time not being analytical at all. It is the oposite. Very musical and therefor a perfect addition to the already very musical Shanling M8.
- The EXT on the other hand does significantly add information in the bass area. It is as resolving and has an at least as good sound stage. But the precision and presence of the Elys moves a bit to the back ... or it just has to compete with the now present extended bass.
That said the EXT improved on the musicality side since yesterday (or my way of perception changed. The brain can do tricks).
So finally I would like to sum up the sound impression like this ...
- as expected, both perform very well on the top level of IEMs
- there is no clear winner for me. The sound of a cello with the EXT was the first thing I tried when I put them on brand new. And I will never forget that feeling. The same kind of magic happened on the musicality level when I first put the Elys on my ears.
- Both are very precise and details with very good staging, experience of room etc.
- stricktly according to the level of musicality, the Ely is still the winner, but the difference got smaler after the EXT burned in. The differnce is still significant, but now I could live with the EXT, too. I doubt, but I would not swear, that the EXT will be on the same level at the end of the burning in phase.
- if it comes to the question, of how realistic the reproduction comes to the original, I can definitely say, that - with an M8 as source - the EXT performs better. And instruments sound that good, that I would call it "perfect", which is an expression, that I don't use often. I think I am able to judge this since I primarily listen to classical music, where it is never about colouring the sound. The placement of the microphones might be different in different recordings, but the instruments themself are "always" reproduced pretty much 1:1. And Violin, Cello and Piano as my reverence showed, that the EXT brings more base to all of them and in comparision to the Ely overall reproduces their sound clearly better.
Personal recommendation (all based on M8 as source):
- If you want crisp cristal clear and the same time never harsh and very musical sound ... take the Elys
- If you know Elys but always missed something in the bass area and musicality is not as important for you as the perfect sound reproduction ... you will be happy with the EXT

PS. Since I received this question, I would also like to comment about the comfort of wearing EXT vs. Ely.
Here the Ely is the clear winner (for my ears). It sits like it was build for my ears. I can easily use my favourite SpinFit tips. Since they are completely rounded, they never hurt although they do press a little bit on the outside of my ear (which helps the SpinFits to sit tight).
EXT is not sitting that nicely and does not feel as nicely round in my ears. I manage to make the seal with SpinFits, but just. Since I sit still, when listening, it is good enough. So far I was only in comparing Ely to EXT, swapping every few minutes, so I cannot comment about the longterm comfort. I will update on that in a few days ...
 
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Nov 11, 2021 at 8:00 AM Post #97 of 187
Just a quick update on the longterm comfort of the EXT. --> All fine. After some time, I don't feel them any more.
 
Nov 17, 2021 at 9:05 AM Post #98 of 187
Just for the record. I bought the EXT since they were such a great combo with (also new) iBasso DX300 MAX.
Never heard a more realistic music reproduction.

IMG_4672_2.jpg
 
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Nov 22, 2021 at 5:15 PM Post #102 of 187
The EXT is the first IEM that I heard, which had a midrange which had naturalness, plus speed(!) of a "balanced armature" of an IEM.
Very clean natural, yet a bit recessed midrange (still new).

The EXT climbed enough to be a slight level above my "64Audio U12T", leaving it slightly behind in the ethereal image, with an overall slightly more realistic "air" and cleaner type of bass with a more noticable low end sub-bass resolve.

The soundstage of the EXT was a bit larger than my U12T, being that the mids were not as forward, no matter what different "modules" I used on my U12T (I have them all)...

Even without any module inserted in my U12T (maximum soundstage and closest to the EXT sound), it was just a bit more refined (overall, as a whole) by the EXT. Noticably but not too much more.
Although I do believe they need burn in (for the mids) the resolve of the EXT seemed at some of highest levels I have heard, which wa surprising to me, given that it uses dynamic in mids&bass.

The only aspect I could possibly try to complain about, is the slightly brighter or "illuminated" impression of presentation of the overall signature, combined with amazing effortless low end, made mids a bit recessed but very clean. The signature was different than my U12T (having bit more lush lower mids).

It's also a noticeable departure from a previous Oriolus IEM unit I compared it with, which was more lush sounding overall, and at the top in all sonic aspects, for me, but higher priced.

Those liking darker signatures will find the EXT a bit on the "vanilla" side tonality, while still having amazing bass/sub-bass performance.

The clarity and realism is solidified by the more accurate layering, (from the mids & trebles) which allows your brain accept the presentation (as real) more easily. The Oriolus & U12T both also had this ability, which separates them more from the competition.

This was always an issue for me with IEMs, because most are so "close" in presentatin depth, with little soundstage layering, as I am used to HD800 & susvara level of soundstage.
The EXT gives a pronounced "illuminaton" of soundstage.
 
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Nov 24, 2021 at 6:48 AM Post #103 of 187
When we will get Phonix pre order from Musicteck?
 
Nov 27, 2021 at 1:05 PM Post #104 of 187
After much reflection from initial impression, I edited my post slightly.
I would say the main difference of comparison from this EXT, to my U12T unit, would be the lower mids being cleaner on the EXT, with a slight increase in overall resolve, and a bit more expansive and illuminated soundstage.
Whole unit sounding very realistic, with a slight more "vanilla" tonality, because of the less lower mids.
 
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Dec 3, 2021 at 7:04 PM Post #105 of 187
Just found out about the EXT.

After reading a few reviews i decided that i need these IEMs and they could easily be my eng game.

The best part is that i am living near vision ears so I am definitely going to visit them soon and demo the EXT.
 

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